No Time to Waste
by thefictionhead
Summary: This is basically a sequel to the MOVIE, following the lives of Chiaki, Makoto, the rest of the characters in the movie, and possibly new ones.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 1 - Waiting

5.10.08, 2:49 PM

"Time waits for no one" is my favorite quote. I mean, it seems kind of obvious. Of course time doesn't wait. It moves without our interference. But when I was seventeen, something happened that made me realize the true meaning of the quote.

In a chemistry lab at my old high school, I found a walnut-shaped object. I didn't know what it really was or what it was for, but through a lot of mistakes and trials, I found that it gave me the ability to leap through time. Not travel. "Travel" sounds like you have complete control. You travel to one place, and you can travel to another, right? But you can't do that in time. If you travel to one place, another can be changed or disappear altogether. The entire events of the future will alter because you changed what happened in the past. That's why we call it leaps. One small alteration can severely reshape the future. In other words, a step can become a leap.

"Makoto!"

"Huh?" I nearly fall off of my stool.

Auntie Witch settles down in the couch behind me, pushing some books and papers aside. She looks at me carefully, smiles slightly, and says, "You know, when you're restoring a painting, you have to pay attention to it."

I readjust myself in front of my easel and continue to work on the painting before me. "Right. Sorry, I spaced out for a few seconds there."

She sighs and says, "More like a few minutes. Are you okay?" I don't say anything. She feels guilty. She told me to pursue him, which I did, but she doesn't know that. He told me that he'd wait for me, which I believe completely, but she doesn't know that either. Although I want to tell her it's alright, I don't think I can open my mouth without spilling everything out. Everything that began with him.

Mamiya Chiaki. He came from the future to see this painting, and I promised that I'd make sure this painting will last for him to see it in his original time era. That's why I started helping my aunt in the museum. Little things at first. She wouldn't let me jump on this painting restoration, so I worked up to it. I then chose art instead of science in high school. I'm going to an arts college now, and it's all worked out pretty well for me.

People may think that I shouldn't get so worked up about some guy from the past if my life is good now. I don't really worry about him constantly; just... on random days, it hits me harder than others. You see, we fell for each other, and then he left. He went back to his time. He had to.

I miss him more than I've missed anything in my life. It sounds stupid to say this, but I've never felt like this before. Granted, I haven't really liked any other guys previous to Chiaki and I'm kind of oblivious to all that lovey-dovey stuff, but Chiaki just makes me feel safe and happy. Sometimes, I feel like maybe even though he was born in another time, he belongs here, with me.

I don't have time to let my thoughts wander. I should concentrate on restoring this painting; who knows what will happen in the next minute or so. As the saying goes, time waits for no one.

**Author's Note**

I am not affiliated with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in any way.

Welcome to the first chapter of my very first fanfic! I hope that you think I stay true to the movie. Please continue to read, follow, favorite, and review. Thank you for your patience XD Writing is a process


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 2 - A Newly Formed Trio

4.2.05, 1:53 PM

It's free period, and Kousuke is ranting about baseball. I'm sitting next to him under a tree in the school courtyard. The whole campus looks so much more welcoming with the cherry blossoms and the warm sunshine. I lean back on my hands and let my head flop back, too. My short, dark hair blows nicely against my face.

"And then, in the next inning, you won't believe it, he-" His voice kind of starts to fade out. I occasionally say "mhmm" or "yeah". He's so excited that he doesn't even notice I'm not really paying attention.

"Hey, Makoto," he suddenly says, an urgent tone in his voice.

"Hm?"

"Have you seen that guy around before?"

Reluctant to sit up properly, I just say, "Uh, who?"

"That one over there. Will you actually look?"

I launch my body forward so that my arms are wrapped around my knees. And that's when his presence hits me like a train. His hair that is almost ocher red in the spring sunlight. His sharp brown eyes that say he's alone, but not lonely. His tall, lean figure and the lax way he walks, his head tilting slightly to the side, his hands stuffed in his pockets, the edges of his untucked shirt crinkling around his wrists.

"No idea," I say, a bit dumbfounded. I feel like I saw him the day before during our enrollment ceremony, maybe just a glimpse of his hair... at any rate, he seems familiar.

"Transfer student, I guess. Look at his hair! You think it's dyed?"

I frown. "Don't think so."

"Should I bring him over here? Looks like he doesn't know anyone at this school."

"Since when were you so sociable?" I tease.

"Aw, shut up." Kousuke pushes himself up off the grass and walks over to the new guy. I see their mouths moving, and then they walk towards me. I get up.

"Hey, Makoto, this is Mamiya Chiaki. Mamiya-kun, Konno Makoto."

We bow our heads slightly to each other. "Nice to meet you, Mamiya-kun," I say without really looking at him. I'm not great at meeting new people.

"Same goes for you, Konno-san."

"Wanna sit?" Kousuke asks. We all sit on the grass, and Kousuke goes straight to asking, "Where are you from?"

Mamiya-kun doesn't look at him and says, "Far away. You've probably never heard of it."

"Is it in Japan?"

"Yeah."

"Oh..." For a moment, all we hear is the sound of other students horsing around and a breeze rustling through the trees.

I spit out to break the silence, "I like your hair!"

Mamiya-kun glances at me. Kousuke's eyes widen, and a smirk starts to play across his face. I'll punch him later.

"Thanks." Mamiya-kun just looks up at the sky, but he's smiling.

Kousuke turns to him and says, "Careful about some guys around here. They don't like people who stand out too much."

Mamiya-kun just shrugs. "I can manage."

"Hey, if you're not doing anything this afternoon, wanna come to the baseball field with Makoto and me? We usually play catch for a bit before going home.

Looking surprised, Mamiya-kun turns his head to Kousuke, then to me. Then, he smiles and says, "Why not?"

"Kousuke, you aren't usually so..."

"So what?"

We're in English class, and the teacher has his back turned, furiously writing on the blackboard.

"Outgoing."

Mamiya-kun is sitting in the back of the class, staring absentmindedly out the window. I turn back to Kousuke and whisper, "Why are you sociable today? Finally making friends?" Teasing Kousuke is so fun, especially because of his principles. He doesn't like goofing off in class. He looks up at the teacher, then back at me, light annoyance apparent in his eyes. He satisfies himself with pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose instead and working on taking notes. I suppress a giggle and look down at my own notebook, which, as of now, has nothing written on the page it is open to.

The bell rings. "Alright, class, your big test is coming up soon, so study up!"

The class groans as we pack up. Our English teacher marches out of the classroom looking delighted, and Kousuke and I migrate towards Mamiya-kun.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah." He slings his bag over one shoulder, holding it by the straps, and we exit the room. "Lead the way."

I take the front of our trio as Kousuke and Mamiya-kun talk.

"You're pretty studious, aren't you?" Mamiya-kun says.

"Top of the grade," Kousuke says proudly.

I can feel Mamiya-kun's eyes on me. "How about you, Konno-san?"

When I don't answer, Kousuke laughs and says, "Let's just say she's no competition for me."

I whirl around to whip out a comeback when Mamiya-kun walks right into me. He catches me right before I hit the floor and helps me regain my balance.

"Sorry," I say, trying to avoid looking at him.

"No, I'm sorry, I should've seen where I was going." I quickly turn around and throw over my shoulder at Kousuke,

"He's only top of the grade because he doesn't have any friends."

"What?!" he chokes out. I smile. "I have just as many friends as you do!"

I look at Kousuke, careful to keep walking. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

Kousuke faces Mamiya-kun and asks, "Who do you think has more friends, me or that little squirt?"

Mamiya-kun doesn't hesitate for a moment and says bluntly, "That little squirt." I break down laughing, and Kousuke looks so irritated that all I can think about is how much I need a camera.

"Hey, Mamiya-kun, you're not getting away with this just because you're the new kid," Kousuke shouts over us. That's when I realize Mamiya-kun is laughing, too. "You either, Makoto!"

"I'm so scared!" I taunt, and I run ahead.

"Oi!" Kousuke yells, and the three of us dash down the hallway, together.

**Author's Note**

I am not affiliated with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in any way.

Eep flashback! The reason I put the dates and times is because I will be doing this often... jumping back and forth in time I mean. I hope you find it useful!

Thank you for the views and continued support! I welcome criticism, just please be gentle. I'm new at this.

BTW, this is an updated version of the chapter... you may notice I moved this to a month after the date in the original chapter for accuracy (to time flashbacks better, I did some intense researching on the Japanese academic school year and decided April was better for this... ) so yeah. There you have it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 3 - Morning News

5.11.08, 6:07 AM

"GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP-"

"SHUT UP!" I scream, throwing some heavy weight off of me. I hear a loud thump, a bad mock sniffle, and my comforter sliding to the floor.

"Sis, why are you so LAZY, honestly! Get up or I'll eat your pudding!" I glance at the alarm clock on my desk. Really?! Six in the morning? But I sit up anyway. No one touches my pudding.

I ruffle my hair, swinging my legs off the edge of my bed. "Miyuki! Why do I have to be awake?! It's a Sunday!"

My younger sister just smiles obnoxiously in her yellow sweater and pink bunny pajama bottoms. She jumps up and says casually, "You know, I bet if all of your friends knew how mean you were to your nice little innocent sister, they wouldn't bother to visit you so early in the morning." She then twirls around and skips out of my room.

Being the nice believing forgiving sister that I am, I stand. Big mistake. My legs wobble at the sudden work they are being forced into, and I stumble forwards and slam my knee into my desk. I resume my splendid attempt to move, but now I'm limping from the splitting pain. Great. I rub my eyes as I walk, and my nose just barely misses my bedroom door frame. This day definitely won't be my best.

When I finally make it downstairs to the front door, Miyuki is standing in the entry, twirling her hair and looking too lively for a girl woken up by some visitor at the crack of dawn. I tread slowly, half because I'm actually kind of scared, half because my knee feels like it's on fire. My eyes meet those of the visitor, and my mouth drops open.

"You recognize me?" He's a bit taller than before, and his hair's slightly longer and lighter in color. But besides that, he's pretty much same old-

"Kousuke! Of course I recognize you! Is that even a question?!"

"I don't know, I think I've changed a bit in the past two years. I have to make sure. You've changed, too."

"Is that a compliment?"

"What if it's not?"

"Ouchhh, I see you've worked on your disses." I hear a stifled laugh. I turn and face Miyuki. "Are you just going to stand there?"

Giggling, she looks at Kousuke and manages to choke out, "Hi, Tsuda-kun."

"Hey, Miyuki. You've grown up a lot! How old are you now?"

"Sixteen."

"Wow, time really flies by, huh?" I twitch. "So, Makoto, I'm really sorry about coming to bother you so early. I just got off the plane, and I really wanted to check in on you."

I shrug. "It's fine. You know, a phone call and a lunch meeting would have sufficed."

"I have some urgent stuff to talk to you about."

Eyebrows raised, I reply, "Well then. Do you want to come in?"

"That'd be great."

"Miyuki, go upstairs, please."

"What?" Miyuki pouts. "You can't boss me around just 'cause Mom and Dad are at work."

"That's EXACTLY why I can boss you around, Miyuki. Upstairs." She storms towards the stairs and out of sight.

Kousuke doesn't need to be led to the kitchen, but he lets me lead him anyway. We make our way to the dining table, me limping and him pulling along his suitcase. I immediately go to the refrigerator.

"Have you had breakfast?"

"No, but I'm not hungry."

"Don't be ridiculous."

Shrugging, Kousuke finally relents. "Fine, but don't get too crazy."

I pull out a milk carton, two glasses, and a small box on the second shelf of the refrigerator.

"Are you limping?"

"Huh? Yeah. It's nothing major." I open the carton, pour out some milk, close the carton, and put it back in its place. "So, how's college?"

Kousuke sighs wearily. "Pretty good. I mean, I've always wanted to be a doctor, but I have to admit, some of the classes I'm taking..." Holding the glasses and balancing the box on top of my filled hands, I proceed back to the dining table. Kousuke hurriedly helps me, setting down the box and opening it. "Oh, nice! Pastries! So yeah, I guess what I'm trying to say is, college is nice, but, you know, it's still school."

We each choose a pastry to begin with. I go for the custard puff, and he picks out the mini pecan pie. As we nibble on the sugary starters, I press onwards, "There's more to life than classes. How are things with you and Fujitani-san?"

"Oh, Kaho? We're... alright."

I chew slowly, looking at him meaningfully.

Kousuke's chair scrapes the floor harshly as he backs up in agitation. "Oh, sorry. Okay, we're not alright, but I don't really know what's happened, exactly. The distance, maybe. I mean, America and Japan, that's sort of a long trip for a date."

"Oh, come on. You guys were so sure this was going to work out. Are you positive there aren't other things that might be the problem?" I get up to grab some napkins, puff in hand.

"We've been having some trouble connecting. She's pretty stressed out because while I've been preparing to study medicine for years, she only started considering it after we started dating. She's having some difficulty trying to find her way now. That's put her in not that great of a place."

I sit back down and finish off the puff. "That's understandable," I respond as I place the napkins on the table.

"What should I do?"

Shrugging, I say, "Give her some space to think about it, I guess. I'm not great with this stuff."

"But you're a GIRL."

"Wow, thanks for that. I hadn't noticed."

Kousuke lets out a small laugh, then asks, "So how have you been?"

"Pretty good. Working at the museum with my aunt, dealing with my annoying sister, everything's pretty much the same." I pick up a mini ham-and-cheese croissant and tear off a bit of the end. "Kousuke." I toss it into my mouth and chew thoughtfully. "Didn't you say you had something urgent to tell me?"

He looks at his hands and rubs them together. He's finished the pecan pie, but doesn't reach for any more. "Yeah. About that." He glances up at me. "Don't say I'm crazy, okay?"

I almost snort.

"What?"

"You called me crazy on a regular basis when we were younger and now you're telling me to not say you're crazy? How is that fair?"

"That was all jokes, but I'm serious about this."

I cross my arms. "Okay, tell me."

Turning to look at some insignificant spot on the kitchen counter, Kousuke says, "I think I saw Chiaki."

**Author's Note**

I am not affiliated with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in any way.

Suspense is madness, no? I feel like this is my personal payback to all those books in series that FREAKING END THEIR BOOKS LIKE THIS haha but no there's a next chapter so phew.

Thank you so much for all the views, reviews, favorites, follows, and messages! 3 I am open to criticism. If you think I'm writing anyone OOC, let me know. I am also open to suggestions! The main plot line is sort of down, but if you want to see certain flashbacks or things to happen in the future, stick that in your review or, if you think I'll really like it and write it and don't want to spoil it for other readers, just message it to me.

I also frequently make mistakes, even if I do reread and proofread because I spend so much time writing it. All the words seem so familiar and normal to me that any mistakes tend to sort of fly over my head... So please let me know about those, too!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 4 - Thinking

5.11.08, 6:24 AM

I don't say anything for a while. I'm not even sure what to THINK, forget about talking! My mouth feels dry and I can't... I just can't.

"How," I manage to articulate while staring at the wood grains in my dining table.

I hear Kousuke take a breath to say something, probably some sassy remark along the lines of "I used my eyes", but then he stops himself. I glance at him, and he shrugs.

"Why. Why would he be back." My gaze wanders over the edge of the table to the floor.

"Back? He isn't back. He was in America."

"Why."

"Why are you asking me?"

I turn to him, and I feel my face scrunch up. "You didn't talk to him?!"

"Hence the 'I think'," Kousuke replies, and his face seems to age five years in that moment. He sighs heavily, leans back in his chair, and tilts his head, smiling slightly. "I saw him from far off. He was across this really busy street, but I just saw that hair, all bright and in your face. He was wearing a business suit, and he even had a briefcase. Could you imagine? I mean, it might not have been him, but... I could've sworn..." He chuckles softly. "You know, I kind of wish it wasn't him. If Chiaki was around us, the first thing I thought he'd do was to come see us, or at least you. He owes us at least that much after leaving us like that, without any warning. But at the same time, I wish it was him. Seeing that bastard in a suit..."

I can't help but grin. Kousuke never talks this much, and to talk with such softness and sincerity... it was nice to hear him tone down, what with all his stress from school and his long-distance relationship issues. And... imagining Chiaki, crazy Chiaki, the seemingly uncaring time traveler, who got into fist fights and sported that eye-catching hair with pride... in a suit.

"Look. I thought that you should know that's he probably still around. I'm not sure what happened between you guys, but if you ever saw each other again... I just thought you'd like some time to figure out what to say."

I bite my lower lip. "What, do you expect me to go to America and track him down?"

"No. I expect you to do what you want and say what you want." He studies my face for a while before speaking again. "Did you like him? Like how he liked you?"

I think for a moment before answering, "I'm pretty sure I liked him more."

Kousuke smirks. "You're wrong about that one. If you saw him now, would you talk to him?"

Laughing, I reply, "Um, I might have to punch him first, but I guess."

"Makoto, I know it's not really my business, but... he left for his reasons, and he's still away for his reasons, but he will come back to see you."

"After all this time... you don't know that."

"Yeah, I do." Kousuke backs his chair up to stand. "I should go. Sorry for barging in so early."

I stand, too. "No, no, I'm glad you came. It was really good seeing you. And talking." We start walking towards the front door.

"Sorry. With my work load and the time difference..."

"I understand. Good luck with Fujitani-san. You should go see her."

"I will, don't worry about it. Your phone number's still the same right?"

"Mhmm. And yours?"

"Same. I'll talk to you later, alright? We should meet again before I head back."

"Of course." I call for Miyuki. She storms down the stairs and exclaims,

"Tsuda-kun! Do you have to go?"

"Miyuki!"

She pouts and says, "Bye."

Kousuke laughs. "Bye! See you guys soon."

"Bye, Kousuke." I open the door for him, and he walks out into the morning air.

**Author's Note**

I am not affiliated with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in any way.

Geez I miss Kousuke.

Thank you for all your lovin'. It's much appreciated! a;wlek gjajflv

Oh, if there are any particular characters you want to see from the movie here (or more of them, I include a lot of them), let me know. Or if you have any original characters. That's fine, too!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 5 - Open Wounds

5.17.08, 9:27 AM

I never really had much to complain about in life. When you're a kid, everything's alright because you don't really understand what's going on anyway. High school is when most people run into their first major problems. But for me, high school was pretty perfect. School work was usually the only issue, and of course, the occasional spat with my younger sister cropped up. Besides that, things at home were good and things with my friends... they really couldn't have been better. But after Chiaki left, everything fell apart. I couldn't help wondering if I would have dealt with things better if Chiaki and Kousuke stuck around.

My phone rings, jerking me out of my thoughts. I flip it open and answer.

"Hello?"

"Makoto?"

Oh my God. "Yuri?!"

"Hey, yeah, it's me," Yuri replies shyly. "We haven't talked in a while."

Yuri Hayakawa. We used to be pretty close in high school, but through a time leap, I figured out that she had a crush on Chiaki. She knew I liked him, though, and she didn't wedge herself between us. She doesn't even remember that conversation, but I do, and I haven't been able to look at her the same way.

"We haven't. It's been, what, two years?"

"Time flies, doesn't it?"

"So, um, why did you call?"

"Oh! I ran into Fujitani-san at a convenience store, and we started talking. I heard that Tsuda-kun was in town, so we thought it'd be nice to arrange a little get-together tonight."

I nod to myself. "That'd be nice. Who would come?"

"I texted some of our old classmates who are still in Japan. So far, I have five people who want to come. If you want to join, we're going to meet in Tokyo." She gives me directions, and I jot them down on a sticky note.

"Okay. Sounds good. See you then."

"Bye!"

Finding the restaurant, even with the address given to me, is a problem. I always run into some kind of issue. I wait in the rain for a cab, and when I finally get into one and begin moving into the heart of Tokyo, the traffic increases. By the time I arrive at my destination, I'm fifteen minutes late and freezing. My black cardigan is damp from the rain water, but at least the light blue dress that I opted for is still relatively dry. I don't usually wear things like this, but it's a reunion. Might as well look like I've made it somewhere in life, right?

As soon as I rush into the restaurant, I hear a chorus of calls.

"Welcome!"

"Makoto!"

"Hey, look! It's Konno-san!"

I smile and walk towards the table where my old high school classmates are gathered at. They all stand up to welcome me, and then we sit down. I take the chair to the right of Kousuke's, as Fujitani-san is sitting in the chair to his left.

"Glad you could make it," Kousuke says.

I elbow him gently. "Nothing like a good old reunion." I lean forward in order to see Fujitani-san around Kousuke. "Hey, Fujitani-san!"

She gives me a small but warm smile. "Hi, Konno-san. How have you been?"

"Pretty good, you know, working at the museum and stuff. How about you?"

"School work's rough, but I'm holding up." She glances at Kousuke, and he squeezes her hand. I guess they figured out whatever was going on.

Suddenly, someone yells, "Sake all around!" It's a guy sitting across from me, with small eyes, an elongated face, and an energy on the wild side. Could it be...

"Takase-kun?" I say.

He looks at me. "Yeah, Konno-san?"

"Wow, it's you."

"Yup," he smiles in his cheap suit. "Changed a lot, haven't I?"

Back in high school, Takase had a breakdown stemming from one of my time leaps. You see, time leaps don't change everything. Some circumstances can't be completely altered. I asked Takase to change spots with me in a cooking class we had together, so instead of me, he was the one who ruined several people's projects and set his area on fire. Later, he used a fire extinguisher to bully the people who were bulling him because of that incident and threw the extinguisher at me, Chiaki, and Yuri, all in different time leaps. Since my last time leap went to before all this happened, we have no negative feelings towards each other. However, since that time, I've been wary about getting him angry.

"What are you doing now?" I ask. "Still in law school?"

"Yup, and I have a job, too! Granted, it's a small job and it barely pays, but-"

The waiter brings several bottles of sake and cups for all of us.

"Nothing like sake to cheer up your day, am I right, or am I right?"

Kousuke shakes his head. "Take it easy, Takase-kun, I don't want to have to haul you home."

"Tsuda-kun," Yuri says, "speaking of home, what's it like being back?"

"It's pretty good. You know, kind of weird, but good. I miss a lot of things about this place."

The restaurant erupts in voices, and we turn to see another addition to our group.

"Welcome!"

"Long time no see!"

This goes on for another ten minutes or so, as students from my class, the class above mine, and the class below trickle in. We all order giant plates of everything to share. Everyone's a little pink in the face, flushed with happiness and drink. But then, the restaurant explodes with noise once more.

"Hello!"

"Welcome!"

"You guys, it's HIM!"

I turn to see a man ducking into the restaurant. His hair flames bright orange in the yellowed lighting of the restaurant. He walks with a bit of a slump, a little too tall for the restaurant and the suit he's wearing. He looks up, and his eyes land on me. His lips part, as if ready to break into a huge smile, but he can't quite make it.

I can't say his name. My mouth is dry and I can't seem to find how to make the syllables. I hear someone begin to form his name, but I want to be the first person to say his name. So I take a small breath and murmur, "Chiaki."

**Author's Note**

I am not affiliated with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in any way.

GAHHHHH CHIAKI! Why am I fangirling over my own fanfiction. I don't even know.

Thank you all for your patience and goodness ^.^ So much more to come, I promise.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 6 - Salt and Sugar

5.17.08, 9:34 PM

He's looking at me, unable to make his usual joking smirk or even a reassuring smile. He just walks toward us, and the restaurant starts exploding with noise. I don't know if it's the drink that makes the sounds like this, but at first, everything is just a blur of clangs and yells, and then all the noises are extremely sharp, way too loud and clear.

"Hey," he says to all of us. His voice has dropped even lower, but it still has the same quality. A little grainy, with the slightest hint of a sarcastic laugh.

His eyes haven't left mine.

"Hey, man, we-" begins Kousuke beside me. He finishes the sentence only loud enough for the three of us to hear, "We thought you were dead."

Chiaki breaks eye contact and finally smiles. It's small, but it's genuine. "Something like that," he replies.

Everyone starts standing. I hear most of the people around me bolt up, excited about Chiaki's arrival. They probably think Chiaki has some crazy, swashbuckling tale to tell them, one that they can try to memorize word for word and pass on to their old friends. My stomach twists into knots just thinking about it.

Meanwhile, Takase mumbles nonsense as he trips over his own feet and tries to get up a second time. I get up slowly, knowing that if I go any faster, I'll fall flat on my face.

Chiaki says hi to everyone but me. He goes to Kousuke first. Kousuke gruffly embraces him in a manly hug, but doesn't say anything. Then Chiaki goes around, smiling, nodding, shaking hands... and when I'm the only one left, he whispers, "We need to talk. After."

I nod, and we sit.

"So, Chiaki," asks some girl who may have been in my math class. "What happened?"

"What happened when?"

"You were gone for two years," provides Yuri. "What happened in that time?"

Chiaki laughs. "Um, that's really a story for another time."

Some of our food arrives, and everyone yells "itadakimasu" and starts to dig in. Small talk begins at one end of the table, and on my end, Takase is telling some really weird story about his boss.

Suddenly, Yuri announces, "You guys know that Chiaki was the one who asked me to arrange this?"

My sake spills across the table.

Takase starts getting up and yells at the top of his lungs, "WE NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!" A very disturbed girl sitting next to him takes him by the arm and jerks him back down. In a few moments, I'm helping someone mop up the sake, and the conversation continues.

"What? Chiaki? Really?"

"That's news to me!"

"I just needed to see some friendly faces," Chiaki says happily. "It's good to see you all again."

When all the sake is cleaned up, I look over at Kousuke. He looks... angry.

The rest of the dinner is filled with people telling stories of the glory days, Kousuke looking like he's brewing a storm in his head, and me, with a burning pit in my stomach.

When Yuri finally calls it a day, we get up (Takase needed some assistance). We make it outside, and we all thank Yuri for bringing us back together.

"If it weren't for you-"

"No, really-"

"YURI-CHAN, YOU'RE THE BEST-"

"Okay, can someone take him home? I don't think he can even walk on his own."

I feel someone touch my arm. I turn to see Kousuke, eyes aflame.

"You. Me. Chiaki. We need to talk." He whips around and walks away, and I follow him. A couple girls who were in the year below us are talking to Chiaki, but Kousuke interrupts roughly.

"Chiaki. We need to talk. Now."

The girls back away slowly from Kousuke, glancing at each other worriedly. Chiaki nods and joins us quietly. The girls scurry away.

No one else notices us leaving as we walk down the block. The rain has ceased for the most part; there's a barely discernible sprinkle. Without warning, Kousuke, who had been in the lead, whirls around and punches Chiaki across the face.

"Kousuke, what the hell are you doing-"

He doesn't even hear me and yells, "Dude, WHAT THE HELL."

Chiaki caught himself from falling, but a giant bruise is blossoming on the left side of his face. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you'd better be sorry-"

"Kousuke, stop." I put my hand on his arm.

"No... he can punch me as much as he wants, I deserve it," Chiaki mutters.

"Come ON, Chiaki, why did you have to do this big thing? You could've called us, or maybe came by our houses, but you arrange a reunion? And you call YURI about it?!"

Chiaki shakes his head. "It's hard to explain."

"Well explain!" Kousuke shouts at him. "And it'd better be good 'cause you've put us through hell, Chiaki. You didn't even tell Makoto what was going on. Can you imagine what it was like for her?"

Chiaki looks at me, eyes pleading. "I'm sorry. I'll explain about everything."

"Start with the reunion," Kousuke demands.

Taking a deep breath, Chiaki starts. "You saw me in America, didn't you? I heard you went there for college, so I flew over, hoping to see you. I planned on talking to you, I really did, but... I couldn't."

"You couldn't. Well, that's just-"

"It was hard for me, too!" Chiaki responds forcefully. "I would've loved to stay or at least to have explained everything before leaving, okay? But I had to leave. And I knew what it would do to you guys, so when the time came, I couldn't face you! After all that, I couldn't bring myself to talk to you. And when I came back here, I decided... I had to face you and Makoto eventually. I called Yuri to arrange a big reunion. Because then, maybe you guys would be willing to show. If I came to your door... you would've slammed the door in my face. And with other people around that we knew, I thought it might be easier for me to start talking to you."

"And how's that working for you?" Kousuke asks angrily.

"Better than I expected," Chiaki replies quietly. Kousuke's expression changes, and he sighs.

"Look, man... you can't just, you know, walk out on us. We were family. Would it have killed you to say something?"

"I led a completely different life before I came to you guys... and I'm not all that proud of it. I didn't want to share that side of me. I thought not explaining would be better than giving you some half-ass explanation. But I needed to go back. I-"

"Don't say you didn't belong here," I interject. "Don't say you didn't belong here, because that's bull."

Kousuke snorts. "Still getting owned by Makoto."

"I am not," Chiaki throws back in annoyance.

Cracking a smile, Kousuke says, "Yeah you are." He sighs again and brings the main subject back. "I'm still gonna be angry at you for a while, but... at least you came back to us. How long are you staying?"

"As long as I want this time around. I... put everything in order."

My mouth falls open a little bit.

Kousuke nods his head. "Alright, so I have plenty of time to pay you back."

Chiaki laughs a bit. "Sounds good."

"Well, um, I need to go, so you two should... talk." Kousuke looks at me meaningfully, and I try to shrug it off.

"Shut up."

"But seriously, I have to go, so..." he begins to back away. "I'll see you guys soon. Hey douchebag!"

Chiaki's eyes widen. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. My number's still the same, dickhead, so call me, and we should all meet up again. Like old times."

Chiaki smiles. "Sounds good!" he hollers back. Kousuke snags a cab by the curb and disappears from sight. Then, in the silence, Chiaki turns back to me. The look on his face tells me that he knows that his talk with just me, the two of us alone, is gonna be a whole different ballgame.

**Author's Note**

I am not affiliated with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in any way.

It's getting to the good stuff.

So I think I'm deciding on once-a-month updates. I wish I could do more, but I am busy busy busy.

Thank you for all the views, reviews, favorites, follows, and messages! They mean so much to me, they really do.

Always open to constructive criticism (:

Merp the chapters are getting longish... hope you don't mind... and I mean, these chapters aren't going anywhere, so you can just go take a break and come back to finish it if you wanted. I don't know. If you don't like the length, let me know.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 7 - Everything's Different Now

5.17.08, 10:49 PM

"Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"What? Why?"

Chiaki stares. "I don't know. It's sort of cold. And it's getting late." I pull my phone out of my purse to check the time.

"Oh. I didn't realize."

He looks over the top of my phone and glances at the screen. "Damn. I should probably take you home."

"Chiaki, I'm nineteen. I can stay out late." And then I have to remind myself that it's just the two of us. No one else we know around or talking with us. Just him and me. The last time we were like this was by the river. When he left. I drop my gaze to some point behind his shoulder and manage to continue somewhat calmly, "We haven't seen each other in two years. Don't you think we need to talk?"

"Of course."

"Well then. You said something about going somewhere else? Where did you have in mind?"

He cracks a smile. "If you insist. I'm staying at a hotel a couple blocks from here."

"Shady."

"Well, I'm guessing you want to talk about time leaping, and we probably shouldn't do that in public."

Point taken. I shrug. "Okay." Before putting my phone away, I text my sister that I'll be out till later and to go to sleep. She has this habit of waiting up whenever I go out.

When I'm done, we begin walking. I remember the way that I would walk next to Chiaki when we were younger. I would either be charging ahead, happy and excited, or trailing behind, tired and bored. Today, I walk beside him. Slowly, our paces become the same, our legs move in unison, and our feet make soft splashes together, scattering water droplets across the pavement and, occasionally, on each other's shoes or ankles.

In the silence, we just breathe. We don't need to talk at this second. I don't feel the need, anyway. I just want to enjoy being with him right now. Feeling his warm presence again. And I smile despite being a little sad and annoyed and confused. I wish it could always be this simple: Chiaki and me walking through the city, reveling in the sound of our cold, deep, shaky breaths and the water and the low hum of passing cars.

We reach the hotel. It's nicer than I thought it would be. I mean, he came from the future. Where did he get current-day money?

Chiaki opens the door and holds it open for me. I scrunch my eyebrows, and he motions for me to pass. So I do, and he follows behind me.

As we walk across the lobby, Chiaki's pace overtakes mine and he reaches the elevators first. He presses the up button, and when the elevator arrives, he lets me go in first. I stare at the elevator doors for the duration of the ride 28 stories up in order to avoid awkward elevator conversation. Then the doors open with a soft ding, and Chiaki leads the way.

We stop in front of 2817. He uses a card key to open the door, and once again, he lets me enter first.

It's exactly what I expect of Chiaki. The one-bed room with a view of the city below is slightly messy. A jacket is tossed over the chair in the back right corner, on the desk is yesterday's newspaper, and on his bed is his suitcase, throw open, with some articles of clothing spilling over onto the sheets. Chiaki rushes around, tidying up.

"You can sit wherever you like, I guess. Not much to sit on. Sorry."

"No, it's fine." I sit on the edge of his bed.

"Do you mind if I change really quick?" Chiaki asks, loosening his black skinny tie with one hand and tossing an empty soda can into a trash bin with the other.

"What? Here?!"

"No, you moron," he smirks, flinging his tie into his suitcase. "In the bathroom."

"Oh, of course, yeah, go ahead."

He picks out some clothes from his suitcase, throws them onto his shoulder, then begins to walk towards the bathroom by the front door, unbuttoning his shirt as he goes.

I take off my shoes and attempt to get comfortable. This is why I hate dresses. They make sitting so irritating. I end up lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. The bed is long enough that my feet don't hang over the edge and my head isn't on the pillows.

When Chiaki comes out, he plops down next to me, a blur of rusty brown and ocher. We lay like this, quietly, until he inquires,

"How have you been?" he asks.

"Recently? Alright."

He shifts on the sheets. "Two years is a lot of time. You can tell me more than 'alright'."

I turn my head slightly to look at him, and he's looking back at me intently.

Sighing, I remark, "Well, my parents are good. My sister isn't as annoying as she used to be."

"Little Miyuki," he smiles.

"Yup."

"How about your aunt?"

"She's... sick."

He doesn't say anything for a few seconds. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? It's not like you gave her illness."

"If I had come sooner, maybe-"

"But you didn't."

He bites his bottom lip. "I tried looking for a new device. I ended up having to make one."

"What? You can make the device?!"

He laughs quietly. "There's still stuff you don't know about me."

"Obviously."

"We could go back now. Help her."

I almost succumb to the desire. Of course I want to help her. She's everything to me. Just one leap...?

No. I can't. It's not right. Auntie Witch told me once that she had experienced time leaping before. I don't know if she was just saying it to make me feel better, but what matters is that she wouldn't agree to this. She wouldn't want me to time leap again. When I told her about it during that crazy week, she told me that I was probably harming someone while I made things better for myself. She would say the same now. This isn't the right way to go about things. And the illness isn't terminal yet. I won't go to such extreme means until I have to.

It might sound horrible to not do anything. I know. Not many would understand. But time leaping is like a drug. You get the notion that you can do anything, because if you mess up, you can just go back. So you do it over and over, and you feel invincible. But there's a limit to leaps... and even though you think you can outrun them, the consequences to fooling around with time will catch up to you. I remember when I almost got Kousuke and Fujitani-san killed. I had wasted all my leaps on such useless things... trying to make my own life easier. Auntie Witch warned me then. About the whole helping self, harming others thing. Take Takase for example. After I asked him to switch places with me in Home Ec., he inherited my mistakes. I can't do that to anyone again.

"No," I finally reply. "If I've learned anything from that time, it's don't screw with what happens."

Chiaki's eyebrows knit together. "Do you... do you wish I hadn't come back?"

"No, of course not. I'm just saying... the situation is precarious enough. I don't want to barge in and try to fix things. I might just make them worse."

Chiaki swivels his head back so that he is staring at the ceiling. I hear skin on fabric and glance down to see him idly tracing patterns on the sheets.

"I'm sorry," he says again.

I turn to look up at the ceiling as well. "About what?"

"You have every right to be upset."

"...About... what."

"Leaving the way I did. It... worked out a lot better in my head. And then I returned to the future, and I realized how stupid it was."

"How stupid what was?"

"Well, for one, I said I would wait for you, but I mean, I wasn't even sure if our natural lifetimes would cross. Which they don't, by the way. And the device is invented in my time, not in yours. So you had no means to reach me, and I had no means to go back to you." When I don't reply, he continues. "And I should've told you not to finish the painting. If you finish it, then I don't time leap in the future. The moment you finish the painting... we don't remember each other." My left hand balls into a fist. This is what I spent nights, weeks, months wondering about, worrying about. I don't need to hear this again.

"It's not your fault."

"It is. Look I... I know what I did was selfish. I got out what I needed to, and then I chose that moment to leave. I shouldn't have left you like that, on that note. It was selfish of me to keep you waiting when I didn't even know if I could get a new device and come back. It was selfish of me to give you false hope. It was selfish of me to come here, out of the blue, and... it was selfish of me to expect nothing had changed."

My fist clenches tighter. And the words start flowing. "I know. I guessed as much, okay? And my life doesn't revolve around you." I sit up. "So don't talk like that to me. Yeah, it was selfish. But that was two years ago, and I've learned to deal with it. I'm not some helpless, broken kid you need to pity."

I hear him sit up. "That's not what I meant at all. I just... I thought, or I guess, I hoped, that... I was as important to you as... as you are to me."

I know I should speak my mind... I didn't do that enough when I was younger. I glance over my shoulder, and he's studying the seams of his black sweat pants with intense concentration. I had imagined our reunion to be like... a movie scene, honestly. Dramatic violins playing in the background, seeing each other from across the train tracks where I first time leapt, or maybe a busy street... walking slowly towards each other, and then gaining speed, ending our run towards each other with a warm embrace filled with missing and memories... no sadness or anger or confusion.

"Are you regretting time leaping here again?" I ask, a strange feeling growing in my stomach.

"Because of what you said? No, of course not," he murmurs. "I wasn't fair to you, and I was acting like a jerk about it."

"It's... not like I was fair to you either," I say. I turn around to face him again. He's sitting cross-legged, so I sit like that, too, directly in front of him. I lace my fingers together and put my hands where my shins cross over. I take a deep breath, and then I continue. "I missed you a lot. The day that you left was awful, and the bad feelings grew the longer you were gone. I wished that you had stayed. Or at least offered to take me there, if that was possible. But you just told me to wait for you. So I said I'd come running, but I had nowhere to run to. You didn't tell me where you were from, what time period you lived in. And I figured out the painting thing almost immediately after you left. I can't believe..." I shake my head. "I just didn't know what to do. So I did the only thing I could. I worked on the painting anyway. I thought... maybe... if I just-"

"No." Chiaki suddenly interjects, sadness vibrating in his voice. "You didn't seriously-"

"My pride has grown since we knew each other," I interrupt him. "My world did revolve around you. You meant so much to me..." I run a hand through my hair, trying to control myself. I don't know why. But I feel the need to. "You were the only one I could think of that way. And it hurt that you were gone. Life was difficult enough without having to think about you every second. I wanted to forget you, time leaping, everything."

"But why-"

"Don't you understand?!" And I snap. I realize momentarily that the growing feeling I had noticed was anger. I abandon the thought almost as soon as I think it and charge through my words like a raging firestorm."Do you know what it was like? In your time, I imagine you have loneliness. From what you told me, it seems like you live in some post-apocalyptic world or something. At least no one there reminds me of you or talks about me. Here, I went to school with people who knew you. Do you know what it was like for Kousuke and me at school? The amount of trash talk we heard about you was unbelievable! Kousuke and I got into fights almost daily with kids we had been on good terms with. We flinched whenever you were mentioned, and when we made plans, we got the urge to call you, to catch you up on what was happening, to include you. But you were gone, and that's all that I was reminded of, every single day. My family asked about you. At school, you were the hot topic of gossip for what felt like forever. And Kousuke, he never mentioned it again after the first day, but I could feel it. He missed you, too. And he knew I knew something. But I couldn't tell him. Do you know what that was like? I kept everything to myself to breaking point, I had to watch Kousuke suffer, and you, you saunter back here, when I thought I was never going to see you again, when I thought I had lost you, and when I was set on forgetting you!"

My chest heaves. I was talking really fast, so now I'm completely out of air, and I can feel my eyes tearing up. I face away from him and try to calm myself by taking slow, deep breaths.

"I'm sorry. I would've come back sooner if I could have made the device quicker. I'm so... I'm so sorry." I hear him crumpling the sheets, and I can almost see in my mind's eye the fabric being crushed between his fingers. "I didn't mean for any of that to happen. I should've thought the whole thing through. From the very start. And I shouldn't have asked to arrange the whole reunion. I should've just showed up at your door and kept it short and clean. Maybe... I shouldn't have come back at all. Two years was far too long... I'll never forgive myself for it. But Makoto, if you want... I'll... I'll leave again. You can finish the painting. Do what you want this time. I won't complain. I'll do whatever you want to do."

I don't say anything. The silence expands between us like an inflating balloon, slowly but surely, steadily, and the sound of this silence is the loudest thing I've ever heard.

"How long were you planning on staying?" I ask to break it.

"What?"

I repeat the question.

"As long as you wanted me to."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yeah. I know you want to know how, but that's sort of a completely different, very long conversation." He releases his fist and rubs the back of his neck.

I don't respond for a couple moments, and then I sigh. "Chiaki, I'm not going to finish the painting. Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous. It's totally reasonable. You said that before-"

"Before, I thought you might have abandoned me. You were gone. And yet I was reminded of you constantly. Things are different now." I turn back to him, and my lips begin to move into a small smile.

**Author's Note**

I am not affiliated with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in any way.

I AM SO SORRY OHMYGOSH SO FREAKING SORRY OKAY so I had a rough of this for ages but I never got to finalizing it because I've been swamped so I wrote up the next chapter immediately. I hope that will allow you to forgive me *cries*

This was an incredibly heavy chapter... I apologize. But I think it's more realistic, no? This was mostly Makoto's baggage. I'll go more into some of the things mentioned in later chapters. Chiaki's ever elusive personal story and his baggage from the future will be revealed soon *ominous music*

Thank you so much for dealing with me. I apologize profusely.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 8 - Smile

5.18.08, 2:36 AM

We small-talk for a while. I catch him up on all of our old classmates, filling in what they couldn't manage to fit into our dinner time. I feel like we're just stuck there, a bit past midnight, forever. I keep talking and talking, but I don't even know what I'm saying. I don't even care. I'm just glad to be here with him.

We're sitting on the floor now, backs against the bed, sipping Diet Coke. And as I finish yet another insignificant and slightly funny story, Chiaki sighs.

"Wow. I wish I had been there, in those moments."

"There were some okay things you missed," I admit, "but I mean, besides that, life was pretty boring."

"Nothing ever happens in the Shitamachi area without me around, huh?" Chiaki jokes.

I nudge him with my shoulder, but I don't say anything. We sit in silence for a bit, and then he says,

"Hey. Makoto."

Just like the old days.

"Mhmm."

"So... just making sure..."

"Mhmm."

"You... did miss me... right?"

I turn to face him and almost yell, "Chiaki, you freakin' moron, of course I missed you-" He leans forward and practically slams his lips against mine. As soon as he does, he moves away from me, but while my eyes are wide, his remain narrowed, concentrated, thinking intently about something. He leans forward again, but more slowly, giving me a chance to react, to push him away or let him kiss me. I do neither. I cup his face with my hands and pull him closer to me.

I don't know much about kissing, so Chiaki leads the way, moving his lips before I do, tilting his head before I do, and I sort of try to follow...? I don't know. But it doesn't even matter to me.

We sit there for I don't know how long. I try to say something afterwards, but I can't think of anything.

Chiaki doesn't seem to mind. He just looks at me and smiles... a rare, actually happy smile. Not his mocking/teasing smile or his arrogant/joking smile or his bittersweet/thankful smile. Just a happy smile.

**Author's Note**

I am not affiliated with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in any way.

This is the shortest chapter ever, but I thought it was best this way... for three reasons. 1. Chapter 7 was so much to take in 2. We all needed this to happen 3. I want to address other things in the story. But yeah don't worry, there'll be some more romance. Any cute date ideas for me? Message 'em.

I want to thank you guys AGAIN and apologize AGAIN because reasons in the Chapter 7 note. Thank you for sticking with me. Thank you for the continued support. As always, if you have anything to say, feel free to review or message me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note at bottom, as always.**

I DO NOT OWN THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME OR AM AFFILIATED WITH IT IN ANY WAY.

Chapter 9 - The Device and the Bracelet/CHIAKI

.xxxx to 3.26.97, 9:42 AM

Dad always tells me I shouldn't go into his workshop, but I am just too curious! One look won't hurt, right?

Mom and Dad are talking downstairs, so I'll just sneak a really quick peek...

I open the door to the attic. Dad always holes himself up here during the nights. I've only ever glimpsed inside. I remember bookshelves, safes, a desk made of dull metal, and some file cabinets.

Dad is super obsessed with the past and future. He doesn't like the present much. He talks about some "apahcalips" or something. He gets really worried. That's why he spends so much time in the attic. I think he's working on something to help us get away from the "apahcalips".

The door opens easily, without creaking. Inside, the air is really dusty, and I feel like someone has put a thick blanket on top of me.

There are a ton of papers on his desk, but what really sticks out is a toolbox. It's bright red, worn, and slightly open. I go over and push up the lid, and I see many tools. I don't really know about these tools because we don't use them anymore, but I've read about them in history books. Well, not books. We call them books, but we read them on tablets. Apparently, people used to print books on paper. How weird, right?

"Honey?" my mom says from downstairs.

Oh no! I push my hand towards the toolbox to close it hastily, but then my fingers brush against something-

I'm flying! I'm flying! I don't know through what, it's kind of weird, but this is amazing! How did Dad make something like this?! I feel like a bird!

Oof! I just hit the floor kind of hard... what is this stuff? It's green and... and... leafy.

It's grass! It's like I've read about! This is so cool! I wonder if I can take some home-

"Hey!"

"Hm?" I turn to see a girl my age. Her hair is in a short, dark bob. She's wearing a white shirt. Mom says it's rude to stare, but I can't help it. I don't think I've seen someone wear actually white clothing. And her shorts don't have any grease stains or dirt on them at all.

"Hey!" she says. "Did you just... Did you just fall out of the sky?"

"What?" I look around. I'm... Oh. I'm not at home. "Where am I?"

"You're so silly! Tokyo, of course! At the park! Where's your mom?"

"At... at home!"

"Oh. My mom's over there." She's pointing to a woman sitting on a bench. "Why are you alone?"

"I don't know! I don't know!"

"No, don't start crying! It's okay! We'll get you home! I promise! Where do you live?"

"In... the third... third district of... Province... 15," and I can't stop it! I'm a crybaby! I rub my eyes really hard to get rid of the tears.

"Hey, it's okay! We'll find where you're from. Why don't we play a little for now?" she says, smiling. "See those swings? Do you want to see who can swing higher?"

"Oh... o-okay."

"Cool. I call the blue one!" And she runs ahead. I see her bracelet on her wrist, bouncing as she runs, and I notice these weird squiggles on them...

I feel something pulling me backwards, and I'm falling again, flying and trying to steer, and then I'm back home. I see my hand is right next to a strange, walnut-shaped object in my dad's toolbox. Shaking my head, I close the toolbox and rush out.

"Mom?"

"Yeah? What are you doing up there?"

And I run down to see her and remind myself she's still there.

**Author's Note**

Okay I am so sorry I cannot apologize enough. I've been having quite a rough time, and finding a good hour or two just for writing is hard /: I want to always give out quality work, so I'm sorry it's delayed.

I've done a couple pages of the next chapter. To make up for not posting last month, I will try to have this next chapter finished before April is out. Thank you so much for your patience and continued support.

I've never written as anyone younger than I am, so sorry if the narration is a little awkward. I promise this will be important... heheh *wheels around in chair with an evil expression on face* Anyone wanna guess who the girl is? XD


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 10 - Auntie Witch and the New Intern

5.18.08, 7:34 AM

Beep beep.

Ugh. No.

Beep beep.

I lurch out of bed. The comfort of my own sheets and pillows... I've missed this. And my old room. And my SLEEP.

I lean over to my desk, trying not to fall out of bed, snatch my crappy cellphone, and retreat into the warmth of my blankets. Flipping the phone open, I read on the scratched surface:

gooooooood morning

-Chiaki

Sighing, I quickly type out a reply:

go to sleep

xxMakotoxx

As soon as I put my phone down next to my pillow, it beeps again.

would if i could. what are you doing

-Chiaki

...was planning on sleeping in

xxMakotoxx

how about you dont and hang out with me?

-Chiaki

by the way dont you have school? or did you drop out haha

-Chiaki

-_- im taking a little break

xxMakotoxx

why? whats up?

-Chiaki

i told you. my aunt's sick

xxMakotoxx

oh. is it that bad?

-Chiaki

lets just say shes not improving. but she still wants to work. i go help her out once in a while

xxMakotoxx

what are you gonna do

-Chiaki

with what

xxMakotoxx

kind of everything

-Chiaki

i dont really know but... with the painting, i guess we could totally pull off a heist or something haha

xxMakotoxx

see we need to meet up and discuss these things

-Chiaki

...

xxMakotoxx

i havent seen you in years. id say how im acting is pretty normal. well i guess before 9 is too soon

-Chiaki

just a bit

xxMakotoxx

when do you get off work?

-Chiaki

why?

xxMakotoxx

its the same museum right? i'll come by. say hello to your aunt. wanna do something after?

-Chiaki

you haven't been here so you choose what you want to do

xxMakotoxx

i want to go to your place and eat sukiyaki.

-Chiaki

i think thats arrangeable

xxMakotoxx

cool. see you at 5

-Chiaki

5 it is

xxMakotoxx

And with that, I start my day.

Auntie Witch's office is more of a second bedroom than an office. Books, papers, printed images, posters, notebooks, and used paintbrushes are scattered all over. The corners are cluttered with shelves or easels, and her work table and desk's surfaces can't be seen. Her dinosaur of a computer, desk lamp, and stacks of forms sit on her desk under pictures and photographs that are tacked, stapled, and taped to the walls. There's barely enough space to even move through her office. The only place that isn't busy is the ceiling.

I waltz in at 10 o'clock on the dot, wearing my usual work attire: an olive green long-sleeved shirt, nicely fitting blue jeans ("with not a single hole or tear!" as the executive director of the museum had warned me), and brown ankle boots.

Announcing my presence with a quick knock and "Hi, Auntie", I make my way carefully through the room before collapsing on the black couch she has in the middle of her office.

"Makoto, good morning. Rough night?"

"Not really, just a long one."

"What happened?"

I take off my backpack and place it on the floor next to my legs. "I talked with Chiaki."

"Whaaaat? Chiaki? That boy is still alive?!"

I give her a look.

"It's just an expression, Makoto." She had been looking through some papers, but she puts them down now, peering at me over her carefully folded hands. "You really were waiting for him this whole time, weren't you?" I don't answer. "Two years is quite a long time to wait for someone." Her gaze travels to the cabinet by her desk, where a framed picture of her with her high school friends sits. "Did I ever tell you about them?" She had, barely, once, two years ago, but she doesn't remember having told me. I time leapt to before she spoke to me about them, so I just shake my head. "It's quite a story," she says, letting out a sigh.

"It was back when I was in high school... I had two best friends, like you. Two boys. I don't remember too much from that time, but one boy was named Asakura Goro, and the other was Fukamachi Kazuo. Kazuo and I hit it off from the start. He was a good friend, but I found myself... falling in love."

"What happened then?" I ask eagerly, hoping she would give more information than she did last time.

She opens her desk drawer, pulling out a plain yellow pencil. She closes the drawer then pulls her straight, long dark hair into a ponytail. Using the pencil, she secures her hair into a bun by winding ponytail around the pencil then sticking the end through a portion of pulled-back hair. "We fell apart before we became adults."

"Why?"

"Bad... bad timing." She takes a deep breath. "I don't quite remember why, but I know he had to leave. He promised to come back for me. I waited, like how you waited for Chiaki. Unfortunately, I wasn't graced with the same kind of luck..."

"Me? Lucky? That's a first."

Auntie Witch chuckles. "They say that love favors the foolish."

"I'm not a fool!"

"Aren't we all fools in the face of love?" Smiling, Auntie goes on, "At least you were an innocent fool. My love was tainted by some deep feeling of distrust... I don't know where it came from, but eventually, I forgot why I waited and why I loved him... it all stopped making sense. Afterwards, I dated Goro for a while, but that didn't end so well. I guess that's why I always expected you to date Chiaki or Kousuke." She looks at me curiously, then continues, "Makoto. You aren't like me. The type who'd wait patiently then grow distrustful and forgetful. You're the type to run and meet him, aren't you?"

I bite my bottom lip. "I tried."

"Can you accept him? After all this time?"

"The circumstances were out of his hands... so yeah, I think I can."

"Hm." She leans back in her black office wheeled desk chair. I remember racing around this room in that chair as a kid, pretending it was a rocket ship. Those were the days. "How did you guys get back into contact?"

"There was a reunion dinner, and he showed up."

"What a twist of fate. How's he doing?"

I... actually don't really know. "I'm not sure, but we'll be spending the evening together again. We'll have more of a chance to talk. Oh, speaking of, are you coming to dinner tonight?"

Auntie Witch smiles. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to a faculty dinner. Remember? I mentioned that new intern who joined us last week. Haru-chan."

"Ooh, a welcome party."

"Yes."

I sigh, giving up on sitting up on her black couch and sprawling across it instead, one leg resting on the back of the couch, the other hanging over the edge. My eyes wander around my room and land on my empty easel. I bolt up. "Auntie. Where's the painting."

"Hrm?"

"The 'White Plum and Two Camellias' one! The one I was restoring!"

"Oh, that new intern-"

"Where."

"What?"

"Where is the intern?!"

"Probably in one of the restoration rooms-"

I dash off. I nearly crash into a few old lady docents, and when I reach the "Staff Access Only" door, I quickly swipe my museum staff ID card that hangs on a lanyard around my neck and rush down the hall. The first room I reach has someone in it, so I slam the door open and exclaim,

"Excuse me, sorry, would you happen to know where the new intern Haru is?"

The person turns around, and my jaw drops.

"Takahashi Haru?!"

Takahashi-kun looks equally surprised. "Konno-san! Uh, you work here?"

"Yeah, have been for a while," I reply bluntly. "You're the new intern?"

Smiling awkwardly, Takahashi-kun responds. "Yeah, haha. Why?"

"Nothing, just kind of surprised."

"So, did you need something from me?"

"Um, I think you have my painting."

"Your painting?"

"'White Plum and Two Camellias'?"

He gives a knowing nod. "Ohhh, you work under the conservator, Yoshiyama senpai. I'm interning under the collections manager and assistant curator, so I was told to catalogue some paintings and their restoration progress..." He takes the painting carefully off the work table in front of him and hands it to me. "This painting means a lot to you?"

"Yeah," I reply, taking the painting from him. "Quite a lot."

"I'm really sorry," he says. "I cleared it with Yoshiyama senpai, so I thought it was okay. I didn't realize-"

"Hey, it's fine. You'll know next time."

There's a pause, then he smiles. "You sound like my senpai."

"Kind of am. I've been helping out here since I was a kid, so in terms of experience time..."

"Oh. How?"

"Yoshiyama-san is my aunt."

"Oh! Following her footsteps?"

"I guess you can say that." I motion to the painting with a shrug of my shoulders. "I should take this back."

"Oh right. When do you think you'll be done restoring that?"

Um. "Not sure yet. We just had to re-weave the canvas, but we also need some actual paint touch-ups. Then we need to re-varnish and frame, so... not for a while. Especially considering we're restoring that entire collection now."

"Okay, cool. Let me know when you're done so I can catalogue it."

I say a quick goodbye and steal away back to Auntie's office. Thank the heavens the painting is okay. I don't know what I'd do if someone else got their hands on this...

Takahashi-kun. Who would've thought.

I know Takahashi-kun from college. He's one of those boy-next-door types: quietly knows everyone, modestly knows everything, and innocently knows girls. We're not very close, but we've talked to each other once or twice before.

When I reach Auntie Witch's office, I put the painting back on its easel and begin making notes in my notebook. I'm supposed to be working, but I begin doodling... doodling snakes.

**Author's Note**

OMG Thank you for you patience, I'm so sorry, this chapter sort of exploded... I only meant for like the first half to be in this chapter, the last half was an epiphany. I hope it was worth the wait.

So, Chapter 9 was NOT a filler, there's some serious foreshadowing in there, same with this chapter. I've decided to incorporate Auntie Witch's story, which is rumored to be the original story of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (the book), so I used those names. There's so much more that's gonna happen... stay tuned. As usual, thank you for the views, reviews, favorites, and messages! Please continue to show me support. (:


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note** W/ UPDATE

Woah, I know, Author's Note in the front. READ THIS, OKAY, IT'S IMPORTANT. First off, this is a half-filler chapter, meaning I made it for some background information, but you don't need all of it. Anything you do need for the rest of the story from this chapter will be revealed again later on, so if you're not interested in this lengthy mass of descriptions of the devices we will encounter again later on, feel free to skip. Secondly, I'm posting this so soon after the previous chapter because I will be very busy for the next couple of weeks. I will not be writing at all, so after those weeks, then I need time to write, so please be patient~ Lastly, this is the turning point in the story. Everything from now on will be VERY plot-driven. This is the time for you all to tell me what you want to see in the future. For instance, Chapter 10 had some hints at a possible love triangle. Is that something you guys would like to see or rather not? How much time leaping do you want to see? Do you like the incorporation I've been doing of Sogoru and Auntie Witch's story with Chiaki and Makoto's? Let me know after reading this chapter.

UPDATE: Just to let you know, I'm thinking of writing another fanfic in addition to this one. I am NOT abandoning this project, but as a writer, I need some breaks... and I have a fanfic in mind. Like this, it's got some sci-fi in it... anime... TV show this time, not movie. And, like this, it has an open ending, and it's been bugging me so much. It will be canon pairing, T-rated, and plot continuation. Anyone have any guesses? XD

Chapter 11 - Prototypes/KEN SOGORU

Spring, 2676, Evening

Rubbing my eyes, I lean back in my tattered old chair. I put my glasses back on and examine the work table before me: several different prototypes of the time-traveling device and memory wipers, blue prints for universal printers, and a leather-bound notebook with yellowed pages. I pick up a memory wiper first. Prototype A4. My father made A1. He was in his mid thirties. He was so excited to try it... he never did. Shortly after he created it, he was killed in a raid. My mother and I had to move after that, but I brought his journal and the A1. When I turned eight, I couldn't hold back my curiosity, and I tried in on our dog. That was a stupid idea, of course, because how would I be able to question the dog whether it remembered something or not. It exploded on the ground. With the remnants of A1, my dad's journal, and a very old time travel theory book I found in one of my scavenging outings with my mom, I created A2. This I tested on one of the Ravens.

The Ravens are the most prominent rebel group in my world. Several groups attempted to overthrow existing governments around the globe; the Ravens succeeded with the biggest powers. The universe is up in the flames of anarchy. No law exists, no king, no country. Just land and sea and fire. The rebel groups now are mostly packs of good-for-nothings who kill each other and bystanders in a strange, confusing battle for power.

Anyway, a Raven scout came by our shack. He was stranded. Mother provided him with shelter; we had no food or water to spare for him. We did get out some information from him, though: another group, the Triad, who are, I guess, the "good guys" in most civilians' eyes, was stirring up trouble, and the Raven was searching for new recruits. He had gotten lost and came to us to ask for some directions. I used A2 on him.

The memory wipers work like this: you take a picture of what you want someone to forget, then you direct the wiper at the target. The theory is that they will forget anything associated with that picture. So, I took a picture of our dog and made him forget about the dog. When he came to, he started FLIPPING out. That was my first mistake with the memory wipers: I had made him forget what dogs were, not just our specific dog.

Immediately after, I altered A3 to make the thing to be erased more exact... That's the one that I used that time...

Prototype A4. I noticed that A3 emitted a strange lavender scent, so I've been trying to do away with that...

The time-traveling devices... my grandfather made the first prototype. It was named TSTD001 by the government in this region at the time... with government funding, Grandfather made TSTD002. Some information was leaked to the press, and the world went insane. A time-traveling device. The most coveted invention in history. The craze behind this device was one of the catalysts for World War IV.

Grandfather was killed in a lab raid... but prototypes TSTD001, TSTD001-A, TSTD001-B, and TSTD001-C had all been destroyed and fired down to molten scrap metal and burning rubber. But before that, Father and he had created TSTD002. After Grandfather passed, Father made TSTD003 and TSTD004, slowly improving the device... the first couple endangered people's lives. Some people had limbs left behind in different times, other people couldn't manage to return (they would leap about ten minutes before and couldn't leap back, so they would just relive those ten minutes and report back), and still other people were lost in space and time (leapt ten minutes before and never reappeared).

TSTD002 allowed people to leap back only a few minutes. TSTD002 stretched the range to several months. TSTD003 got people back a couple years at most, and TSTD004 sent someone past a decade. Other things changed over these prototypes, too. TSTD002 implanted the ability for time-traveling devices to read thoughts. Another large part of cyberization (increasing use and incorporation of modern-day technology in everyday lives) and factor of WWIV was mind-reading software. Originally, these were used for MPs, or Mental Ports, headgear that you wear the reads your thoughts and implants new ones depending on what you were doing on your computer. Extremely complex and expensive, most MPs are destroyed by now. I happen to have one because my family is a line of inventors and government-paid scientists, but it's quite unusable at this point. Not many servers even exist for the Internet. It's a piece of junk now, but I keep it anyway, just like how I keep the old prototypes of the time-traveling devices and memory wipers.

So, TSTD002 used this ability of reading minds to mentally pinpoint where the user wanted to leap to. TSTD003 cleaned this aspect up a bit more. TSTD004 included a mental emergency trigger, an involuntary reaction from a person near death. Even though the user doesn't consciously think that he or she needs to leap back to avoid disaster, the device reads this and immediately transports you to safety.

TSTD004 and A3. My son is already playing around with my inventions... he showed sudden interest in my devices. I think he may have time-leapt by accident at some point... I don't always lock my office. No matter; he shows amazing capability. He's helping me with TSTD005 and A4. Hopefully, he'll never use these... I only make them because I feel like it's a thought unfinished. I need to complete them. The controversial turning points of modern science that helped bring around this hell of a time period...

My son must have leapt back to the timeline that I was in. What is it now, over there? 1997? 1998?

I wonder how... how Kazuko is doing.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note**

I DO NOT OWN THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME OR AM AFFILIATED WITH IT IN ANY WAY.

I uploaded both chapters 12 and 13, so the legitimate author's note will be at the end of the next chapter. Read on! (:

Chapter 12 - And Finally Everything Starts to Make Sense

5.19.08, 5:00 PM

As soon as the second hand hits 12, there's a knock on the door. I leap off my work bench to go answer it.

As I swing open the door, I smile and say, "Hey, right on time." Chiaki's eyes glow like molten bronze in the mellow museum hall lighting.

Auntie Witch calls from the opposite side of the room in her black office wheeled chair. "Hello, Chiaki-kun."

Chiaki ducks his head quickly to bow to her. "Good evening, Yoshiyama-san."

"I keep telling you to call me Auntie Witch." She gets up and walks over. "Long time no see, Chiaki-kun. My my, you're a man now. Last time I saw you, you were just some scruffy high schooler, now look at you." I do admit Chiaki looks great. When he was in high school, he was that kid who looked like he grew too fast. He was always a bit uncomfortable with his sudden height, shift of weight, and lanky proportions. But he has grown into his body changes now, and he even stands up straighter.

Chiaki rubs the back of his neck and laughs a bit.

Auntie Witch smirks. "I've already kept you for too long. You two go on now."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Auntie."

"Bye, Makoto. Bye Chiaki-kun."

"Goodbye, Yoshiyama-san."

We step outside of the office, closing the door behind us, and I distinctly hear Auntie say to herself, "I kept telling that boy..."

"So, is that sukiyaki happening?"

"In a couple hours, don't worry. I want to take you somewhere first."

We walk aimlessly through the city as the sun still shines brightly. The days have been stretching, and the nights shrinking. The long summer days always remind me of the times I spent with Chiaki and Kousuke, our last summer together...

My hand clenches.

We walk side by side. I can feel Chiaki throwing curious looks at me every few seconds, wondering where we're going and possibly other things.

"Hey, Makoto."

"Mm?"

"How has Kousuke been? I mean, like... really."

I lick my lips. I admit I sort of sugarcoated things the night before. I didn't want Chiaki to feel any worse about leaving. And Kousuke can tell Chiaki of his own business.

"He's okay. If you're really curious, you should just talk to him. He'll be heading back to the States soon, so... go grab a drink or something. I'll give you his number."

"Alright." Chiaki puts his hands in his pockets and clears his throat. "So, did you date anyone while I was gone?"

I almost laugh. "What?"

"Or hook up. Whatever."

I stare at him. "Oh God no."

"What."

"You think I hooked up with Kousuke?!"

He looks away for a moment then focuses back on me. "That's ridiculous. You and Kousuke?"

"That's what I should be saying. You think I can't tell when you lie?"

Running a hand through his hair, Chiaki sighs. "Look, you two were always close, even before I came along, it wasn't a terrible guess-"

"He has Fujitani-san."

"Like that was gonna last."

"Chiaki!"

"It's not lasting, is it."

"That's besides the point. Kousuke and me never happened and will never happen. And for your information, I haven't so much as looked at a guy that way since you-"

"Yes?"

"Oh my God." I smack him on the arm.

"Ow, that hurt!"

"It was supposed to, idiot."

We walk in silence again. When we're about half way to the location I have in mind, Chiaki speaks up again.

"Aren't you curious about me?"

"Don't you live in a crazy post-apocalyptic era? Is there a lot of time to hook up there?"

"Hey, the whole last-night-of-our-lives thing is supposed to be the best ever."

"'Supposed to be'. So you haven't."

He doesn't say anything for a moment, then he mutters, "Dammit."

I laugh quietly. "I admit I was worried while you were gone that you'd moved on. But you came back."

Chiaki's fingers brush against the back of my hand. Assuming it's a mistake, I move the tiniest bit left to prevent another accidental brush. And then he moves his fingers into my palm. Okay, not accidental. Not accidental at all. His fingertips linger, waiting for my response. I close my hand around his. His hand is warm, a bit rough and calloused, and it grips my hand tightly, like it's afraid I'm going to slip away. And without another word, we walk like this, holding hands and smiling quietly, to the riverbank where I attempted my first intentional time leap, where Chiaki and I sat and talked all the time, where we ended up saying goodbye.

"It's..."

"Yeah."

He nods. "It's perfect. And it hasn't changed a bit."

It hasn't. The sky above is still that orange-pink, the occasional cloud floating above, reflecting in the river that flows steadily past. Kids still run through the grass and roll down the hills, crouch by the river and play with the rocks and reeds. Shy middle schoolers still sit and talk in muted tones, and people of all ages still bike along the top of the bank.

We take a seat halfway between the path and the river, where we used to always sit. I absentmindedly smooth the front of my pants with my free hand. A breeze blows gently through the riverbank, and Chiaki tightens his hold on my hand a tiny bit.

"I really missed this place. For so many reasons."

"I guessed as much." I turn to face him, and he's staring at me earnestly. Trying to memorize every line and curve of my face, every bit of reflection in my eyes, every thought in my head. And then-

"Look! It's a couple!"

Again?!

A few grade school boys by the edge of the river point and holler at us.

"Look at them! They're acting like high schoolers!"

They laugh, and two of them mimic a couple.

"'Oh honey, how do I look?'" He twirls imaginary long hair.

"'You're so beautiful I could kiss you! Mwa mwa mwa!'"

"'Let's get married at sunset on the beach!'"

One of them, bored with the overdramatic display of his friends, yells, "Bet that pretty nee-chan won't let you kiss her!"

The other kids start shouting, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

Chiaki coughs. "Um, maybe we should just mo-"

"Hey, what happened to confident Chiaki from last night? Or are you only like that after a few drinks?"

"Excuse me?!"

"And that was only for a kiss... My my, Chiaki, you have a long way to go."

His ears almost the color of his hair, Chiaki places his free hand on my cheek.

"OooOOOOoooooooh," the boys coo.

I smile. "Well, you aren't going to lose a bet to a bunch of little boys, are you?"

"Seal the deal! Seal the deal!" the kids shout.

The color fades from his ears. Chiaki becomes completely calm as he looks at me, and I start to feel heat rising into my cheeks. And he leans in.

It's just a peck. I mean, come on, we were in front of nine year olds. But already, I can tell the kiss is different. Last night, our kiss was experimental, curious, clumsy, sweet, innocent. Today, it's concentrated, calculated, and... intriguing.

The boys, bored by defeat, just sigh and return to... whatever they were doing before.

Chiaki lies down on his back, looking up at the sky. I follow suit, feeling the sun-warmed grass poke at my back.

"What's it like?" I ask excitedly.

"What's what like?"

"The time you live in."

"You really want to know?"

"Of course I do!"

He narrows his eyes. "No rivers. No blue sky. It's rare to see animals. My family was lucky enough to have a dog... I've only seen one other dog in my life time, and it was a dead one. The only thing you see is red, brown, and gray. Blood, flames, death, destruction, and smoke."

"How did you get here the first time?"

He pauses. "Uh, I should tell you that meeting you wasn't my first time time leaping."

"Whaaat?!"

He turns to me, eyes pleading. "I was only here for ten minutes. Maybe less. I was a kid, and I just met some girl at a park."

I cross my arms, pulling my hand away from his. "You know, I have to say I'm a little upset that I wasn't the first person you met in this time."

"I don't even know when it was. And I don't know who she is. It doesn't matter."

I close my eyes. "Back to the question. How did you get here in the first place? If your era is such a mess, how are time leaping devices even around?"

"My family is a line of inventors. We created them, so we have a bunch of prototypes and make new ones."

My eyes fly open. "Wait, are you kidding me?"

"Nope." His face can't conceal his pride.

"No wonder you were always so good at science!"

"And no wonder I was always sucky at languages. You know we don't even speak Japanese in the future?"

"... You don't?"

"It's modified. Even though the basic sounds and word structure are there, you'd probably only understand a word or two of what I'd say."

"Wow. So everything here was almost completely new for you."

"Yup."

"We didn't give you enough credit."

He laughs. "No you didn't. But I couldn't really say anything, could I?"

"What else did your family make?"

"My great-great-grandmother created the first teleporter, the Sogoru 2600, a capsule-shaped machine that you stand in and select your connecting teleporter. You can teleport to any other connecting teleporter, regardless of whether it's next door or five feet underground on the opposite side of the word. It's super complicated, hard to use, and expensive, but nonetheless, it was a huge turning point in science. My great-grandfather made the first time leaping device, the TSTD001. TSTD stands for Time and Space Traveling Device. It incorporates great-great-Grandmother's teleportation algorithms with recent time research and theory. My grandfather created memory wipers, the first of which was A1, which is basically a concentrated mini time leap within the mind."

"That's... amazing. Kind of frightening that one line of people can accomplish so much, but amazing."

Chiaki sighs and studies the sky. "I'm nowhere near as talented as them. I think Dad was the last great. He refined all of the prototypes, just as war was beginning to break out. He used those inventions to keep my mom and me safe. Maybe you're thinking we should've used those to fight. But that's the thing. My family realized these inventions were too much for the human race. I mean, could you imagine... everyone trying to fix their mistakes, benefit themselves, fight for their own cause... it'd be chaos. Besides, the technology is so complicated and demanding in terms of supplies and labor that it's just impractical. Not to mention how bad the whole situation would get if the devices malfunctioned or fell into the wrong hands."

"Is that why the war started? A mix of everyone wanting the devices and... there were probably some crazy conspiracies in there, too."

"Some were fake, some were real. It doesn't matter. The world went up in flames. And thankfully, just flames. After World War III's nuclear winter, there haven't been many bombs to be successfully built. In fact, I'd say only one or two people even know how to build atomic bombs anymore. All sources with information on weapons of mass destruction were supposed to be destroyed. But, unlike World War III, everyone got involved. I mean everyone. Every little town of every seemingly insignificant state of every country. It was madness. Thankfully, none of the devices had been released to the public. All were in our labs, so we were able to destroy the ones we didn't want to keep."

"Couldn't you time leap back and try to stop the war? Or better yet, remove the existence of the devices?"

Chiaki shook his head. "We couldn't risk it. What would happen if we destroyed the existence of the devices when we were using the device to do that in the first place? And, we tried just stopping the war from starting. It's impossible. We tried countless times until we were sick of time leaping. Something always happens."

"So you had no choice but to sit it out."

"We didn't want to. Well, I guess not we. I wasn't quite born yet. My dad was in his late twenties when all this happened, just as he met my mom. When I had grown up a bit and finally understood what was going on, Dad wouldn't let me do anything. He made sure to hide all of the devices from me."

"You wanted to change it?"

"I wanted to go back and erase it. I didn't care if I was lost in a warp of time and space or whatever."

"How old were you then?"

"Sixteen."

"The rebel year?"

"More than that. That's when my mom died."

"... Oh. I'm so sorry."

He shrugs against the grass. "I had always been telling my dad I could do it, that I wanted to save the world and whatnot. He told me no way in hell was I doing that. And then Mom died, and I lost it. I used the first time leaping prototype I could find."

"Where did you go?"

"I... I landed in the baseball field at school. That's when I first saw you and Kousuke."

"... Oh."

"I went home and then came back. Still the same place. I yelled at my dad for ages... he had foreseen my actions and locked the time leaping devices on a certain timeline. The one that coincides with yours. So let's say I arrived here at 8 o'clock. If I went back to the future and returned ten minutes later, it'd be 8:10 here, no matter how much I tried to think myself into a different time or place."

"Why this one?"

"I asked my dad. Well, more like yelled for an answer. He said that he wouldn't let me destroy myself, so he basically trapped in a timeline far from ours."

"But why this one? Does this have something to do with the painting?"

"He never confirmed it, but I think so. Ever since before I was born, Dad's been in love with that painting, and Mom got interested in it, too. It became her favorite. I found out that the last record of it happened to be here, so I set out to look for it. I thought that maybe I could at least bring it back for her or something."

Another breeze blows past, and I close my eyes again. "What happened?"

"I ran into some... 21st century Japan problems. I couldn't find my way anywhere, I couldn't buy food, cars scared the crap out of me... I needed to adapt and learn. Before everything was burned to the ground, we did have schools in the future. I had heard about them, so I decided to enroll in a school somewhere. I thought high school would be the best environment for me to learn about how to live here. The first place I enrolled in brutally rejected me because I had no idea what I was doing, but I'm a fast learner. Then I got into our school."

"What about money?"

"Another invention from my family. I can't even tell you how many generations ago it was. Some great-great-great-times-several-more-greats-uncle invented a 3D copier. With the right materials and blueprints or plans of it, it can recreate anything. It's only for government-use, obviously, but we have one of the later editions of it. I took home some money and recreated it."

"But... how did you have the right materials?"

"I didn't. I just used what I could to get started. I made a whole back story, got a place to stay, a job, some clothes, and eventually, I dropped all the fake money."

"You make it sound easy."

"It wasn't. Believe me, it was such a hassle, and I almost got caught a couple times."

"Time leapt?"

He smirks. "You know it."

"How come the devices only have so many leaps?"

"Another precaution. Only a certain number of leaps per device. It's been climbing ever since Dad and I kept modifying it. My current one can have a hundred leaps."

"A hundred?! Wow. How many have you used so far?"

"Just one to get here."

"Could you make one here?"

"The technology doesn't exist. I'd have to go back."

"But I don't understand. It's burned to the ground. How...?"

"People are beginning to rebuild. The supplies aren't too hard to find... and for making it, there's always the 3D copier."

I sigh. "You guys in the future have it so easy."

"Um, you haven't had to deal with a World War in your lifetime."

"Okay, sorry, I take it back."

"Oh. Makoto."

"Yeah?"

"You should know my real name."

I open my eyes and turn to him. "What? I don't even know your real name?"

"Nope. Well, you know half of it. It's still Chiaki. I just changed the surname."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I felt weird about it."

"Oh. So what's your real name then?"

"Sogoru. Sogoru Chiaki."


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note at bottom**

Chapter 13 - Losing and Leaping

5.19.08, 9:43 PM

Chiaki and I come upstairs, half in a food coma.

"Ohmygod I missed sukiyaki," Chiaki groans.

"Me too."

"When's the last time you had it?"

"Two months ago."

"Two years ago, I win."

We collapse on the floor, leaning our backs against my bed.

"You parents seem good."

"Yeah, they're great."

"And Miyuki. Growing up so fast. She's... sixteen now?"

"Yup."

"Wow, that's kind of crazy."

"Yeah. I feel like she was twelve just yesterday."

Chiaki chuckles. I lean my head on his shoulder. I feel him stiffen for a split second, and then he relaxes.

"Tell me more about the future."

"Like what?"

"The government?"

"Pretty similar, actually. Only thing is now that all the governments are torn apart, a bunch of groups travel around, trying to come out on top. Most of them were conspiracy theorists who came together and helped stage coup de tats, well-connected, well-trained, well-organized... now they're just a bunch of thugs that terrorize the unarmed citizens. There's the Triad, the Ravens, the Brotherhood, the Golden Tigers-"

"They sound like gangs."

"They are. Before the war, apparently, they preached about bringing about a new era of peace and truth. Fat load of crap."

"But I mean, you're not surprised, are you?"

"Unfortunately, no. Everyone back home has pretty much lost faith in humanity."

I play with the hair tie around my wrist. "Chiaki... are you sure you're not going back? You mentioned your mom passing, but it sounds like your dad's still alive..."

"He is. The reason I came two years ago and stayed for a while was because, well, at first, I really did want to get that painting. Secondly, I wanted an escape from my life in the future. And third... I really liked you guys. You and Kousuke, of course, but everyone else, too. The people of the past are so much more... um, I guess just so much more in every way possible. I like it here so much better. I feel like I was born in the wrong time period."

"I'm glad you like it here."

Chiaki takes my right hand in his. "My dad was pretty upset when I finally got back. I'd left him alone, with no one... I didn't even bring the painting like I had said I would. But Dad realized I had created a life here. And he sort of knew I'd come back eventually. When I told him I'd be going back, he wasn't all that surprised. He was just really upset."

"Well that's understandable. He's all alone. He lost his wife, and he's losing you."

"Are you saying you think I should just stay in the future?"

"That's not what I want, but you have to think of your dad."

Sighing, Chiaki tilts his head back. "I think my dad made a life here, too. He has to know the painting from somewhere else. It's so obscure. It took him years to find a book with a picture of the painting. I think he lived in this timeline, Makoto. And I think that's why he didn't say anything or try to stop me when I came back."

"So... what do you think you're going to do?"

"I'm staying here. It's where I belong. I just... don't know what to do about my dad."

"Have you ever asked him?"

Chiaki frowns. "Have you ever asked your dad what he wanted in life? What he wants to do with his future?"

"No, but regardless of how awkward that's gonna be, you have to."

"I will."

I walk Chiaki out to the front of my house by the road.

"You can flag down a taxi on your own, right?"

"I remember how to, Makoto." His pale skin is glowing a ghostly blue under the Tokyo night sky.

"Text me when you get home."

"Why, to make sure that I didn't get mugged or something?"

I laugh. "Maybe. Just get home safe and text me."

"Alright. Go back inside, you don't need to watch me go down." He bends his head down and kisses me on the cheek, soft and gentle. In response, I hug him, arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

When I release, I say a bit breathlessly, "Good night."

"Night." He turns to walk away, then doubles back. "Wait, I almost forgot." He fishes something out of his pocket. It's-

"Ohmygod."

"Missed it?"

A walnut-shaped object sitting ominously in his palm.

"Oh, you should know that the tattoo with the number of leaps left can be placed anywhere on your body. You didn't know it would appear, so the device just picked a random location. I put it on my inner wrist like last time. Think about the place where you want it as you-"

"Wait wait hold up, you're giving me leaps?!"

He tilts his head. "Why wouldn't I?"

"You said so yourself, these leaps are dangerous, it gets too chaotic, and last time, I wasted most of them on really selfish things-"

"Well you learned from that, right? I just... I want you to have them just in case. For emergencies."

I look down at the device. "Chiaki... are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I trust you." He looks at me questioningly, and I finally extend my hand.

My fingertips brush against the rough surface of the device, and I'm flung into darkness.

**Author's Note**

I DO NOT OWN THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME OR AM AFFILIATED WITH IT IN ANY WAY.

Hey party people, my little hiatus is over ^0^ I will be back to a chapter per month, but because I've been gone for so long and I was able to finish up these two chapters on the same day, I decided to post two chapters today. I may be able to finish up another by the end of the month, though, so stay tuned ^.^

So time leaping will FINALLY make its first appearance in my story! I apologize I'm so novel-writing-oriented and spent so much time building it all up. But only with planning and building like that can you plant plot twists... *ominous music*

Thank you for your continued patience, support, views, follows, favorites, and reviews (you guys really are the sweetest). Please leave a review or message me if you have any requests, suggestions, criticisms, or questions. Also, a note about chapter 12: I apologize for its length. It's only a few away from 3,000 words. I just didn't know where to stop ;A; Forgive me. If you read all of it, wow and thank you. Haha, on the other hand, this chapter was just over 900 words XD Short and sweet.

Last note, if you like my writing style, I've just started up a new fanfic on Psycho-Pass called Psycho-Hazard. If you've watched Psycho-Pass, I'd appreciate it if you checked it out. I only have one chapter posted at the moment. If you haven't watched Psycho-Pass, I recommend you go watch it because it's amazing, and if you don't find it amazing, you'll at least find it beautiful (freaking cyberpunk cities).

So I wrote both my longest chapter and my longest author's note. Thank you again for sticking with me -_- 3


End file.
